1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to connectors that are packaged or mounted on substrates such as printed-circuit boards, and in particular, relates to a connector having a reduced packaging area or mounting footprint area while retaining a misalignment-compensating function, i.e. the ability of accepting a counterpart connector with some degree of misalignment.
2. Earlier Technology
In relation to a structure for electrically and mechanically connecting a pair of substrates, it is widely practiced, for example, to package or mount a concave or female type connector on one substrate and a convex or male type connector on another substrate, and to engage these connectors so as to press the bodies of contacts of the respective connectors against each other. In such a connecting structure, however, if the mounting position of the above mentioned connector on one substrate or the mounting position of the counterpart connector on the other substrate is misaligned even just a little, due to, for example, production errors, etc., this will lead to a forced engagement of the connectors with each other. Such a forced engagement of the pair of connectors will exert excessive stresses on the legs of the contacts of the respective connectors and may cause the legs to come off the substrates or other problems.
A connecting structure different in basic construction from the above mentioned connector, is described in Japanese Provisional Patent Publication No. HEI 6-163125, for example. Therein, a first connector having pin-shaped posts and a second connector for receiving such posts are provided and are used to connect two substrates. Each contact of the post-receiving connector includes a U-shaped spring portion at its middle, and the housing of the post-receiving connector is arranged to be moved sidewise by a deflection of the U-shaped spring portion. This structure can exhibit a function of receiving the counterpart connector even when the mounting position of the connector on the substrate is misaligned a little (hereinafter this function is called a misalignment-compensating function). Hence it can prevent excessive stresses from being exerted on the legs of the contacts and, in turn, can prevent separation of the legs.
The connector according to the above mentioned publication, however, suffers a major disadvantage. Namely, this connector has increased external dimensions due to the dimensions of the U-shaped spring portions that are added to the connector. This is contrary to the requirement of users who desire to reduce the packaging area or mounting footprint as much as possible so as to make the substrate more compact.
On the other hand, it is generally required by the users of such connectors that the surfaces of all of the contact legs of the connector that contact the substrate must be in the same plane. This alignment of the contacting surfaces of the legs of all the contacts of a single connector is normally expressed as "achievement of coplanarity." Manufacturers of connectors have been striving to stably achieve coplanarity for every product in the production stage, and to prevent any deformation of the legs as much as possible in the stage of production or delivery to improve the quality of their products.